Just came back from Thunderhill on Sunday and had to get my car towed home because I started to hear this knocking/rattling sound coming from my engine and the oil warning light was flickering on and off. The car starts and idles but when I try to move it, you can hear the knocking noise. Towed it to my mechanic where it is currently being evaluated. He hasn't told me what's wrong yet.
My options are to either have him tear apart the motor and rebuild it or would you recommend me to purchase another engine from a 1988 automatic 944 with around 140K miles for $1,250? If I purchase the used motor from European Auto Salvage Yard, it would be a simple engine swap. I can then have my mechanic take his time rebuilding my original motor so I will always have a spare motor for racing. Hmmm. What to do?

 

If you can afford it, and don't want to chance any missed track days, then get a spare. However, if you do pick up the used engine, you will still need to do belts, rollers, waterpump, and rod bearings.

Now, if I can just find the time to start rebuilding that spare 968 engine that's mounted on my engine stand

 

What Lemming says. My original engine .... now spare is sitting under the work bench with its spun bearing (like yours). The spun bearing overheats the crank and messes it up so you need to refinish it, work the rods etc.

$600 got me a new used engine and I did belts, seals, bearings and WP.

 

Wouldn't the rebuilt engine be more reliable in the long run over an used engine? I figure if my mechanic tears apart my engine, I am going to have him replace all the seals, rings, gaskets, etc.

Is there any other things that I can do to my engine while it is apart to make it more reliable for high speed driving? I have to keep it within 944Spec Racing standards.

 

I've found that automatic motors are almost always in pristine shape inside since you can't really beat the motor that hard. I've gotten 3 auto motors and they were all around $500 a piece, put new belts rollers, WP, and rod bearings in and you're all set to go.

 

If I could pick up that motor for even $700, I would do so in a heartbeat but $1250 is kind of steep. Would you do it for that price?

 

$1,250 is steep for an NA engine. Watch ebay, you should be able to pick one up for less than 1K. I sold my 42K 924s engine for $900 about 1 year ago.

 

Are you the same Litespeeds that posted on the NASA forums ( http://www.nasaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=13328 ) that you have a 1984 944 parts car for sale http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/pts/271298084.html

If so, why are you looking at an engine for $1,250?

 

I picked up that car thinking it would be a good candidate for a parts car but given that it has not been started for over 7 years, I don't want to have my mechanic transplant it and have it break down shortly after. I figured I would have my mechanic do the rebuild so I know it has all new parts and seals.
Also my 1988 and the 1984 car is not 100% interchangeable.